


Rwby Hiatus Predictions

by ManlyQuail



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Hiatus, Multi, Predictions, Rwby Hiatus, Spoilers: Volume 8 (RWBY), Volume 8 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManlyQuail/pseuds/ManlyQuail
Summary: Basically a few chapters predicting a few scenes in Volume 8, but written out in a fanfic kind've style as opposed to simply summarizing them. I think it's more fun that way!Of note as well: I realized I'd entirely forgotten both Cinder and the Hound were being sent after Penny, albeit it separately. This sort tosses out the small moments I had for the hound but they were mostly just there for small tension and dramatic effect so that's whatever. It does alter the scene at the manor though on the off chance that the Hound shows up looking for Penny and instead finds RWBM / W+W. I didn't exactly write out the scene of them getting to and back from the generator because there's so many possible situations where maybe they split up, maybe they don't, etc. That said, I still think there's a few good moments in here even if they don't take place in the *exact* moment I have them!
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40





	1. Infiltration

“There’s a period of approximately 10 minutes between waves of grimm released by that… creature. You’ll wait until a wave of grimm has just been released and take that opportunity to find a path into the beast and identify the ideal location for the device. Radio silence will be maintained until you contact  _ us _ … Good luck.”

There was a crackle in the ears of the three Huntsman crouching behind a hay bale in a field flooded with grimm. The creatures rushed past them, unaware of their presence, due to the unique abilities of one of the three. With one hand on Yang Xiao Long, a powerhouse with fiery waist length blonde hair and determined violet pupils, and the other on Jaune Arc, their current leader whose blue eyes were filled with focus beneath spiked blonde hair, Lie Ren used a steady stream of aura to channel his semblance and keep their group invisible to the creatures around them. Each of their features, normally bright, was presently dimmed greatly by Ren’s semblance. Now on their own, the airship that had dropped them off already more than a mile away, the three of them lifted their heads high enough to look towards the enormous creature, a whale grimm known as Monstra, that served as the flagship of their ultimate enemy: Salem.

“Well, what’s the plan? We’re just gonna run up and through that thing’s mouth?” Jaune frowned, the beast’s enormous jaws presently closed as it steadily manifested a new wave of grimm to send forth.

“Well it’s not like we got dropped off on top to search for a blow hole. If you’ve got any ideas let me know, because I think any second now that thing’s gonna hurl again.” Yang lowered herself down, keeping her voice low as she looked between the two with her. They weren’t exactly the ideal group to storm this creature, but at the very least Ren’s semblance gave them the element of surprise.

“I suppose a frontal assault is our only option, but we’ll need to be slow. It takes too much concentration to keep us hidden for long, so we should start moving now.” Ren looked to Jaune, the pair sharing a knowing nod, and Jaune placed his own hand on Ren. A bright white aura glowed across Jaune, causing an influx of power into Ren, whose aura began to glow a vivid pink at the area of contact. Able to take his hand from Yang, extending his semblance into a small area to provide more freedom of movement, Ren was the first to step from their surroundings.

Even with the time that had passed since the last flow of grimm from Monstra’s mouth, several Sabyr grimm had remained behind to patrol the area. Their black lion like forms were prowling slowly, glancing side to side, and sniffing the air for any hints of fear. Even a few lingering apathy, slower Grimm hobbling towards the city, were left behind. Yang was thankful the apathy were so few in number, and it took all she could to avoid thinking too hard about her last experience with the creatures.

“So do we just wait or-” The group had managed to sneak their way to the side of the beast, at the edge of where the jaw would unhinge to release the grimm. There was a sickening gurgling sound coming from just inside the beast’s body, and as if on cue the jaw swung open, a flood of black essence flowing out across the fields. Immediately Grimm of all varieties crawled their way up from the pools, materializing and wasting no time in charging towards the war going on just outside the walls of Atlas.

“Now, go go!” Whispering to her companions, Yang rushed the two with her into the small gap where the lips of the creature met, diving in before it had a chance to slam shut behind them. Aboard the fleshy interior, Yang managed a single glance back towards Atlas, a lingering expression of sadness and worry, before the jaw began to slam shut.

The three of them were thrown back, the jaw rising faster than they could adjust their footing, and they tumbled down towards the beast's throat.

“Move. MOVE!” Black essence had already begun to pool beneath them, coating their hands and knees as they struggled to force themselves to stand. Luckily, the room had been entirely expelled of Grimm, Ren’s semblance falling briefly at the sudden loss of concentration, and they splashed through the goo as quickly as possible towards the back of the mouth. To their surprise, at the very edge of the throat was a set of stairs reaching upwards carved from the creature’s innards. Without questioning the sight, they rushed up the steps. As soon as they reached the top, Ren clapped his hand onto Jaune and Yang, their bodies returning to the faded state they’d been at during their stealthing towards the creature.

“Do you think we were noticed?” The top of the stairs placed them at the end of a hallway, a tunnel that stretched for as far as they could see before turning off after some distance. Standing in silence, listening for any signs that grimm or even Salem’s forces would be descending upon them, they could instead only hear the bubbling and gurgling emanating from the ever growing pool of grimm behind them.

“I think we’re fine.” The trio relaxed slightly, taking a few hesitant steps into the hall before noticing there were doors on either side of them. Stepping towards one, there was a disgusting slimy sound as it opened automatically, almost reflexive to their presence. Jaune glanced inside, the room carved and hollow, but devoid of any signs that it was used for anything. Frowning, he glanced back to the door opposite to it, and then down the windy and wavy hall before them.

“There’s so many doors, how are we going to find Oscar in the middle of all of this!?” Yang stepped towards the door closest to her, the slimy portal opening to reveal another empty room, before stretching shut as she walked away.

“Oscar is important to Salem, so I don’t think she’s keeping him too far from herself. If we find her, I bet we find Oscar.” Ren looked between the two of them, and nodded his head down the hall.

“We just have to hope Salem doesn’t find us first then.” Looking between one another with confident stares and weapons raised, the group began to move through the halls that made up Monstra’s interior.

\---

Emerald walked aimlessly through the interior of Monstra. The conversation she’d overheard between Hazel and Oscar was repeating itself over and over in her head. To her surprise, Hazel hadn’t seemed to leave the instant he’d been given the password, and passing the room again she could still hear the two conversing. All around her things were changing, and quickly. Mercury had been taken by Tyrian to Vacuo, and soon even Cinder…

Eyes wide, Emerald quickly made her way through the maze of halls to find Cinder. If anyone needed to know the truth, if anyone needed to know what Salem’s goals were, it was her.

Hallway after hallway, Emerald turned through the paths she’d come to memorize, until she was panting outside of Cinder’s room. The door splashed open, and she found Cinder and Neo standing inside preparing to leave.

“Cinder!” Rushing in, Emerald came to a stop as Cinder shot her a fiery look, her maiden powers flaring in rage as she glared.

“What do  _ you _ want?” Cinder snarled slightly, turning to face her, while Neo pursed her lips and merely observed the interaction.

“I need to tell you something, it’s about Salem. I overheard a conversation between Hazel and Oscar and-” Gesturing towards the door, hoping she’d be able to get Cinder to come with her to talk to Hazel and Oscar, Emerald was suddenly silenced when Cinder’s grimm arm snaked out towards her and gripped her throat tightly. She gasped for air as Cinder closed the distance between the two, her gaze burning into the girl.

“You failed me, which meant I failed  _ her _ . I don’t need to hear you tell me  _ anything _ about Salem. I know all I need to know, and I know what my purpose is. Without her, I am nothing...” The pain that Cinder had been exposed to as punishment for disobeying orders was still searing in her mind. There was a residual pain in her body that was left as a reminder for who she truly served.

“But-” Gasping for breath, Emerald struggled against the clawed fingers, feeling the sharpened tips pressing against her throat and steadily draining her aura.

Neo had stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Cinder’s shoulder. She glanced back to the girl, whose eyes had narrowed, and she nodded her head towards the door. Cinder turned back to Emerald, the girl wheezing against the chokehold, before she released her into a crumpled heap on the floor.

“Let’s go Neo. We have a job to do.” Emerald gave a pitiful stare to Neo, the girl giving a concerned look down to her, but was instead met with a nervous shrug. The door to the room sealed behind her, the steps of Cinder’s heels clinking through the halls, before Emerald was left in silence.

She was alone now. Mercury had been taken, Cinder had left her behind, and she wasn’t even sure whose side Hazel was going to be on at the end of all of this. Salem was planning on destroying everything, and here she was a heap on the floor unable to even protect those dear to her anymore. Emerald had no idea what she should be doing, and tears began to flow down her cheeks as she thought about all the things that had led her to this point. All the lives that had been taken, all the theft she’d done, all the dark and cruel actions of her life that she’d done only in hopes that it would let her stay safe and happy. All of that had led her here, where she was alone, and the world was on the brink of eradication.

_ What should I do? _

The question rang in her mind, and her eyes went wide with realization.

_ Her name is Jinn. You want her to come out of the lamp? Just say her name, she can still answer one more question… _

In her state of panic, in this moment of loss and confusion, she knew of one final person she could go to. Someone that might be able to settle the chaos going through her mind and finally tell her what path she should follow.

Frantically Emerald pushed herself from the group. Tears continued to rain down as she ran, moving as fast as she could to where the lamp was stored. In no time at all she was before a grand door, however before she could step any closer the door opened from the inside, the sinewy textures snapping outwards as the Hound exited the chamber. Immediately her semblance was in effect, her eyes focused entirely on the beast and her mind hiding her very presence from its senses. All the same, it paused as the door shut behind it, and glanced curiously around at its surroundings. It’s nostrils flared, and Emerald did her best to conceal her heavy breaths. For a moment, the beast’s gaze seemed to fall on her, but after a few heart pounding moments it turned and began to patrol down the hall she’d come from.

Once she was certain the beast was gone, Emerald moved towards the door, the barrier opening as reflexively as it had for the hound, and she stepped inside to a rounded chamber with a single pedestal in the center. The lamp that had been retrieved by Cinder and Neo a short time ago floated a few inches above the bony surface of the pedestal with a gentle spin to it. Her eyes flickered to all corners of the room, making sure that in this moment she was entirely alone before reaching out and taking the lamp.

With tears still streaming down her face, thoughts of Cinder still filling her mind with questions, she took a slow breath and spoke the name: Jinn.


	2. Setting the Stage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Future posts are likely to go up without much if any editing. Given this is mostly a way to get my theories out in the way I envision and are incredibly likely not to be how things play out, it's just gonna be a for fun pop up post every now and then during hiatus since it'll all fall to the wayside once the next episode (and even some of the teasers) roll out and probably make all of this utterly meaningless! For now though, it's fun, so what the heck right? Hope you enjoy my theories, and it'll be extra fun to look back and see if I totally called certain things or not!

General Ironwood stared out the window of his office. The troops fighting just outside the wall of Atlas as well as the airships flying just outside were doing their best to keep back the neverending swarm of grimm. He frowned, letting out a sigh of disappointment that things had gotten this far. With the bomb still in the works and his soldiers on the front lines doing everything they could, much of the battle at this point was out of his hands. However, as he drew his revolver and checked the barrel, he knew there was at least one thing he could do given the circumstances.

Clicking the barrel back into place, Ironwood turned from his office, and began descending down into the depths of the compound.

\---

“Where is Whitley…” Jacques Schnee was pacing the length of his cell. He’d begun grumbling with increasing intensity the longer he remained in the cell, much to the annoyance of the other three sharing the nearby cells.

A sudden explosion rumbled the space, the sound of the battle occasionally reaching even to the depths of the prison they were being kept at. Robyn and Qrow looked towards the ceilings with equal concern.

“How do you think things are going up there?” Robyn looked to Qrow, who could only shake his head with a sigh.

“I’m not sure, but I wish I could be out there doing something instead of being trapped in this cell.” Glancing towards the walls of the cell, Qrow glanced towards Watts who seemed to be humming rather gleefully to himself as he leaned with one foot propped up against the barrier of hard light that composed their prisons. “I bet you’re just loving this aren’t you?”

“Hmm? Perhaps a little, however the true show has yet to begin.” Smirking to himself, Watts' expression turned to a frown as the door to the prison opened. To their collective surprise, General Ironwood himself had decided to grace them with his presence.

“James…” Standing from his seat, Qrow approached the edge of his cell, a somewhat hopeful expression replacing his dread at the sign of a familiar face. However, he paused his approach, as the serious expression on Ironwood was entirely focused on Watts. The General outright ignored Qrow as he lifted his revolver, training the weapon directly on Watt’s head, as a panel appeared and he tapped several buttons across the screen. The barrier faded, and he took a step forward placing the barrel of the gun again Watt’s head.

“Arthur Watts, for crimes against Atlas, the least of which includes treason, as well as crimes against all of humanity, I hereby sentence you to summary execution. Do you have any last words?” His eyes were narrow, cold, and he cocked the weapon in preparation to fire.

“Oh James, will you ever learn…” Slipping from his sleeve, Qrow could suddenly see from his positive the dim light of a scroll suddenly fall in Watt’s hand.

“JAMES LOOK OUT!” His shouting pulled Ironwood’s attention for a split second, and as Watts pressed the scroll against the hard light barrier against his back the barrier that Ironwood had just taken down reformed around the man’s hand. In an instant he pulled the trigger of his weapon but in that moment Watts moved to the side. Lifting his leg, he kicked the trapped wrist of Ironwood, the force of the hit breaking his aura instantly, as a second kick broke his wrist.

Ironwood let out a shout of pain as Watts pressed the scroll to the barrier between him and the general. Taking advantage of Ironwood still reeling in pain he grabbed the man’s broken wrist and swung him inside the cell. Stepping out with a smirk, Watts watched as Ironwood quickly regained his composure and charged towards Watts, only for Watts to raised the scroll once more and with a single tap of a button the barrier to the cell reformed once more, trapping Ironwood inside.

“WATTS!” Shouting as he pounded his mechanical and gloved hand against the barrier, Ironwood’s expression was filled with Rage as Watts simply chuckled and flashed the scroll that had belonged to Ironwood.

“Tell me James, how much damage do you think I could do with your scroll? Universal access to all of Atlas’s systems? You were sloppy.” Chuckling to himself as he walked towards the door, Watts turned from the group with a wave over his back. “Enjoy prison, I’m sure someone or  _ something _ will be down for you eventually. Tata.”

The door to the prison sealed shut as Watts exited into the compound, and Ironwood swore to himself. Turning around, he found himself staring at Robyn, Qrow, and a very shocked Jacques.

“Well that’s just great…” Qrow fell back onto his seating, letting out a heavy sigh and doing his best not to scream. Even if his distaste of Ironwood to this point had grown considerably, the man was still in charge of currently their only chance to fight Salem, and now he was trapped down there with the rest of them.

“Tell me you have a way out of here.” Robyn stared at Ironwood, imagining that the man who ran every system in Atlas would be able to break his way out of his own prison.

“No... Without my scroll and with the entire city on lockdown even I can’t open a cell like this from the inside.” Taking a heavy sigh, Ironwood sat, his eyes falling to his broken wrist as he shook his head. “I let me guard down. The one thing I couldn’t afford to do. Now Salem has all but won.”

“What? You mean with all the forces and soldiers you have at your disposal, not only are we trapped here but you say we’re going to  _ lose _ !? After all that big talk all this time!” Jacques glared at Ironwood from his cell, the realization that if and when he  _ did _ get out of that cell, it may be to a very different Atlas. That is, if there was anything of Atlas left…

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s right. You can’t tell me you’re just quitting because of-” Qrow, in a moment of sympathy for someone he once called friend, took a slow step towards Ironwood’s cell.

“Because of what? Because you and your team turned on me? Because of the ‘Happy Huntresses’ worrying more about the people of Mantle than reuniting all of Remnant!? Tell me Qrow, tell me what else has happened that I shouldn’t let get to me. I have done  _ everything _ in my power to keep the people of Atlas, the people of  _ Remnant _ safe, and at every turn the people closest to me have proven time and time again that I can’t trust  _ anyone _ to get things done. Now that I’ve been taken out of the picture, all it’s shown is that I wasn’t good enough to protect the people.” Ironwood’s eyes were cold, staring between Robyn and Qrow, who couldn’t help but share a pained look between them.

“Well, then we’ll just have to put our hope elsewhere.” Robyn shrugged slightly, her concern briefly turning to a soft smile as she simply lay across the seat. 

“What?” In disbelief, at this point exhausted from his endless efforts and lack of sleep due to the circumstances, Ironwood looked to Robyn.

“All I’m saying is that I don’t think any of us are getting out of these cells any time soon. On the outside though, we have people still fighting. I don’t know those kids of yours too well Qrow, but I was impressed from what I saw. My Huntresses are still out there, and even if I don’t like them personally, the Ace Ops and your soldiers are still fighting too.” Robyn glanced to Ironwood, her expression surprisingly positive as another explosion caused a rumble through the building. “Your mistake in all of this was resting the fate of Remnant on your shoulders, when you forget that we’re  _ all _ on the same side. Like it or not, at this point things are simply out of our hands, so relax, have a little faith.”

“Surprisingly cheerful aren’t you?” Qrow leaned against the wall of his cell, staring at Robyn with a slight degree of amusement.

“They don’t call us the  _ Happy _ Huntresses for nothing.” Returning his look with a confident smirk, another rumble shook the facility.

“I guess that’s tr-” Qrow’s eyes went wide as the lights around them flickered. A brief darkness filled the room and he found himself falling from his leaning position. Slamming back into the stone floor, he let out a wheeze as the wind was knocked out of him. “What the-”

As the lights came back on, the cells resumed their glow as the room illuminated itself, and the four of them were shocked to find Qrow on the outside of his cell, albeit on the floor.

“Like I said, don’t give up hope just yet…” Staring at the still shocked Qrow with a smile, Robyn looked between him and the General, who for the first time seemed to have the tiniest twinkle of hope in his eyes.

\---

Time itself had crawled to a stop, Emerald finding herself in shock as her spoken word sent into motion the summoning of Jinn. The genie appeared from the lamp, a blue mist forming into the floating blue visage of a tall blue woman covered in golden chains. Blue eyes stared down at the broken girl, and Jinn tilted her head with a smile.

“Such interesting surroundings.” Glancing around the room, the chamber carved from the flesh of the creature that surrounded them, Jinn found the smallest amount of amusement in the newest location she found herself summoned to. However this amusement was brief, a fleeting sensation as she glanced down at the girl before her in order to fulfil her true purpose. “Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?”

Emerald’s heart skipped a beat, the overwhelming emotional pressure on her system sending her into a brief state of shock, as she realized what she’d done.

On the one hand, she knew that in this lamp may rest a question that those opposing Salem may wish to ask, a question that could very well put an end to her domination of Remnant. On the other, she thought of the conversation she’d heard between Hazel and Oscar, where Oscar had suggested that Hazel ask Jinn to tell him the truth of the situation they found themselves in. So many people had questions, questions that would do so much more than the question she found herself wishing to ask, and the weight of taking that away from so many filled her with a great pain.

“I-” Hesitating, Emerald wasn’t sure what to do. If she was required to ask a question, she knew the one she would ask, but were there alternatives? Could she apologize and simply ask Jinn to go back in the lamp for someone else? Her mind was filled with questions, the number of questions growing by the second, and all she could do was bear her soul to the being before her. “I don’t know...what my question is.”

“Oh?” Jinn tilted her head, her eyes narrowing at the girl as she sensed the hesitation and chaos within her mind.

“I know what I want to ask, but I’m too afraid to ask it. My entire life had been spent on the run, risking my life for so much as a bite to eat, and when someone  _ finally _ came along that could save me from that life I swore I’d do everything I could to protect them, to make sure that I let them know in as many ways as possible how much they meant to me…” Jinn’s eyes shifted slowly to the side. In Emerald’s emotional breakdown, her semblance had subconsciously begun to display the events she described to the floating entity. There was another tiny hint of amusement, Jinn recognizing that this was a reversal of the normal situation she found herself in, and her eyes continued to wander around the chamber as it filled with more and more images.

“I sacrificed everything for her, I killed for her even in times I wish I didn’t have to, and not too long ago I put my life on the line to protect her from someone I knew I would never be able to defeat. But now…” The illusions of hope, of all the tasks Emerald had gone out of her way to complete in order to please Cinder fading away, and being replaced with more malevolent and terrifying images.

“Time and time again my attempts to please Cinder are met with rejection. Going out of my way to stop a traitor, using my abilities to manipulate battles and fights to be in our favor, even risking my life to save hers, all I ever seem to get in return is scorn and disappointment. Even now, when I overheard the truth of Salem’s plans, I tried to tell her and she would rather toss me aside than hear me out.” Images of a bookstore, of several battles taking place in Amity arena, and more recent images of the battle between Cinder and Penny had filled the chamber, each followed by an angry or disappointed Cinder. Tears continued to stream down Emerald’s face, her heart weighing heavier and heavier as she admitted out loud her doubts in how much Cinder cared for her.

“Now I’m here, I’m in this position where I need to make a choice on which side I should be on, and I just don’t know…” Emerald’s fists clenched, the images fading once more as Jinn resumed simply looking down at her, patiently awaiting a question. “What should I do…?”

Emerald looked to Jinn, their eyes meeting as Jinn tilted her head in contemplation. Soon though, she instead smiled and shook her head.

“I’m afraid this is knowledge I cannot provide.” Jinn watched as Emerald went to object, her expression filled with pain, sorrow, rage and confusion, but before she could speak Jinn raised her hand. “I cannot provide this knowledge for it is knowledge you already have. The answer to your question is something that you yourself already know, and therefore I cannot provide you with what you already have.”

“I-” Emerald hesitated, her heart pounding as she repeated the words in her mind, and then out loud in a calm realization. “I already know the answer…”

“There is still one question remaining. Farewell.” Jinn bowed her head before her body faded to mist, returning to the lamp which fell to the ground beside Emerald. As time returned to normal, Emerald sat for a few moments, reaching out to pull the lamp close. She stood, slowly taking a step towards the exit, when to her shock the door began to open.

At first she was prepared to use her semblance immediately on whomever entered, but as Hazel’s enormous figure stepped in she instead froze, her mind still processing the truth of her situation.

“What did you do…” Hazel looked between the teary Emerald and the lamp in her arms, his eyes going wide, and in a frenzy he rushed her, pinning her to the wall with his forearm as the lamp fell to the ground and rolled away. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?”

“Hazel…” To Emerald’s surprise, from her position against the wall she could suddenly see Oscar in the room, his body having been hidden behind the massive frame of Hazel. His body was beaten and bruised, but at the very least he looked stable and able to walk on his own.

“No. You told me the truth to all your lies could be found in the lamp, and now we don’t have-” Turning his attention to Oscar, still keeping Emerald pressed firmly into the wall, Hazel shouted his rage at the boy behind him.

“I-” Emerald struggled to speak, unsure of where to even begin, when Hazel pressed her harder and broke off her speech.

“What did you ask?” Oscar took a step forward, looking from Hazel to Emerald, and her red eyes moved to Oscar. Hazel lifted the pressure enough to let her speak, at the very least wanting to know what his question had been wasted on.

“I didn’t know what else to do…” Emerald’s eyes were still flowing with tears as she looked down at Oscar, who could only repeat himself.

“What did you ask her?” Looking from Emerald to the lamp on the ground, he worried that without answers from Jinn his shaky alliance with Hazel would vanish in an instant.

“I asked what I should do...and she told me she couldn’t answer.” Emerald watched as Oscar’s eyes flashed briefly, confusion filling her before she realized he’d abruptly swapped personalities.

“She what?” Ozpin, now speaking through Oscar, was in disbelief at Emerald’s response. “She said she couldn’t answer your question?”

“Is that normal?” Hazel glanced between Emerald and Ozpin, his strength loosening on Emerald as he tried to process their conversation.

“No…” Ozpin shook his head, deep in thought about the implications of Emerald’s response.

“So she’s lying?” Gritting his teeth, Hazel went to apply more pressure to Emerald, who could only manage to choke out a few words.

“She said… I already had the knowledge… that she couldn’t provide what I already had…” Gasping for breath, speaking with each wheeze, Emerald looked desperately to Ozpin.

“I see.” For a moment the three of them remained in their positions, silent, before Ozpin nodded towards the lamp. “While this is rather strange behavior on Jinn’s behalf, I’m afraid we don’t have the time to worry too much about it. We’ll know when we attempt to summon her if she does indeed have a question remaining or not, but for now I suggest we-”

The door behind them snapped open, and the group froze as they turned their gaze to the doorway. The Hound had reappeared, circling back into the room on its patrol, and as Hazel clenched his fist in preparations to fight he was stopped briefly as Ozpin extended an arm out to stop him. Glancing side to side in the room, the Hound tilted its head, gazing into the room which to its own senses appeared the way it had been when it had left. Empty, with the exception of the lamp floating gently above the pedestal in the center. Wasting no more time, the Hound stepped back from the room and resumed its patrol. They group waited, listening as the heavy steps of the creature faded away, and they turned their attention to a focused Emerald.

“Fine.” Letting Emerald fall to the ground, Hazel picked up the lamp and looked it over. “I still think we should ask about Salem now. If we wait for too long to ask, and that  _ thing _ comes back to find the lamp missing, all our lives will be on the line.”

“About how she wants to wipe out the world?” Emerald mumbled the words, Hazel shooting her a dirty look.

“I figured someone was listening in on us. So you heard Ozpin’s little tale too did you?” Hazel glared down at Emerald, who had regained her composure enough to stand and wipe away the tears.

“I did, and Tyrian confirmed it for me.” Hazel’s eyes went wide as Emerald answered the question Hazel planned to pose to Jinn. “The first person I went to was Mercury, to tell him what Salem was planning. He was skeptical, like you were, but Tyrian overheard us and told us the truth. All Salem wants from this world is utter destruction. No survivors.”

The sudden confidence in Emerald, her tear streaked eyes staring at Hazel, was just enough to convince him to at the very least play along with Ozpin’s plans for now.

“Say I believe you. Where does that leave us?” Hazel turned to Ozpin, whose eyes glowed briefly as control returned to Oscar.

“We need to find a way out of here with the lamp. If Emerald is willing to come with us, her semblance will make escaping that much easier, but like you said we need to move fast behind the Hound comes back and realizes the lamp is gone.” Oscar looked to Emerald, who hesitated for a moment, before giving him a confident nod.

At this point for her, there was no turning back.

“Good. If there are any ships we should try and take those, otherwise is there a...door? An exit of sorts?” Oscar briefly realized that they were inside of a whale as opposed to any sort of building, so the number of escape routes was likely limited.

“There are a handful of ships we’ve acquired in a bay of sorts. If we get there we can try and fly our way out. Otherwise we may need to escape when Grimm are being released, but that seems the riskiest way.” Hazel’s mind tried to chart out the passages of Monstra, knowing they often kept a bare minimum of ships available.

“Well, we’ll settle on ships as our first priority out of here then. So uhh, lead the way I guess?” Awkwardly gesturing towards the exit to the room, Oscar looked to Hazel who gave a glance once more to the lamp. He was still wrought with temptation to ask his question to Jinn, to know for sure if Oscar and now Emerald were both lying to him, but knowing they were short on time he passed the lamp back to Emerald and motioned for her to take the lead.

“Keep us out of sight. Once we get to the landing bays I’ll take things from there.” Hazel glared down at Oscar, and despite his steadily changing allegiances, his desire to begin beating down the small figure once more still burned powerfully within him.

“Alright, stay close though. My aura is low, so I may only be able to use my semblance a few times before we’re in the clear.” Oscar and Hazel nodded, the trio stepping from the chamber and past the point of no return, to begin making their way through Monstra and towards the landing pads.


	3. Everything

Moving Penny had not been an easy task. Her form had remained unconscious, her body steadily leaking a small amount of green fluid that seemed to be somewhat akin to blood. However, none of them quite knew enough about Penny’s systems to know for sure, and even in the case it  _ was _ close to blood, they didn’t know how to fix it.

Whitley had helped, he had taken an arm while Ruby, Weiss, and Blake each grabbed another limb and together managed to lift her up step by step into the Schnee manor. Inside, they placed her in a bed a short distance from Nora, and without any ideas for alternatives managed to wrap the areas where the fluid was stemming from. At the very least it seemed to stop the flow of liquid, and with the girl still unconscious, the group stood looking between one another at a complete loss.

“It’s all just too much…” Ruby broke the silence, speaking the words they all felt. “The Grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny… How do we fix all of it?”

“One step at a time my dear!” The Schnee family butler, Klein, had sneezed to a more positive personality for just a moment, before a sneeze shortly after shifted him to a more serious tone. “You can’t worry about fixing everything. Simply focus on what's in front of you. If you’d like some place to start, I’d be able to work faster if you could bring the power back on.”

“Well how would we-” Ruby went to ask exactly how they could accomplish this, when a voice surprised them in the doorway.

“We have a generator near the edge of the estate.” Leaning against the doorframe, Willow Schnee glanced into the room with a bottle dangling from one of her hands. She frowned, glanced to the two unconscious individuals in the beds, and then towards the window where chaos erupted outside. “Whitley knows, I’m sure he could take you.”

“Mother I-” Whitley hesitated. He knew where the generator was, but the risk of being exposed to the Grimm outside filled him with dread.

“We’ll protect you.” Weiss could sense the panic and fear in Whitley, but taking a step towards her younger brother she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I know you aren’t the biggest fan of Huntresses, but this is what we’re trained to do. It’s also the job of older sisters to look after their younger siblings, so I promise not to let any harm come to you.”

Whitley was shocked, as was most of the room. Up until now the relationship between the two had been appropriately described as icy, but something about the arrival of Klein from a call by Whitley seemed to have thawed the tension between them. 

Looking between Weiss, Blake, and Ruby, Whitley found himself feeling safer than he ever had within the walls of the manor. Nodding slowly, he gestured towards the exit where his mother had already vanished.

“It’s not far… but if there’s grimm we could take a while.” Despite the protection being offered, Whitley’s nerves were still getting the better of him.

“I can help with that.” May Marigold stepped into the room, having overheard the situation, though she still wore a frown on her face. “Though once we have the generator up and running again, I still want us to consider heading down to Mantle. Without their protector, we’re running lower and lower on possible allies to help in this fight.”

**A/N: This is basically all just relative to the clip we know happened. I likely wouldn’t have included it otherwise. In short I imagine through May’s semblance they managed to clear the generator and get back safely. She’d then depart from them to go get the ship ready offering one last chance for anyone to go with her down to Mantle, but everyone would prefer to stay together, and she goes off on her own.**

“I’m  _ never _ doing that again.” Whitley’s heart was pounding in his chest. Despite their ability to hide the number of close calls with grimm near the border of the estate had him rattled. Fixing the generator though, the room where Nora and Penny lay had been restored to full brightness, and Klein could be seen looking over Penny’s body with a quizzical expression.

“How is she?” Ruby took a step towards Klein, the butler offering her a soft smile as Penny suddenly began to sit up. “Penny!?”

“Wha-” Klein’s smile vanished as he turned his head back to Penny in shock. He hadn’t even done anything to her yet, so for her to suddenly begin rising seemed to be sheer coincidence. 

“Is she alright?” Weiss had a smile of her own, thankful that Penny seemed to be doing better, but something about the way she was glancing around the room was strange to her.

“I was so worried!” Ruby rushed towards her friend, who had stood from the bed as Klein scooted away to give her room. Her expression was blank, her lips thin as her eyes glanced around the room, suddenly flickering to red. As Ruby attempted to hug her, she was stopped suddenly by an outreached palm. With an audible thump as she bounced off the metal arm, Ruby fell back to the floor as Penny began to slowly rise up with her thrusters active.

“I have to go… to the relic…” Her voice was urgent, her expression turning serious, as she hovered towards the closest window and smashed through it. Floating just a few feet from the window as Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all chased after her, Penny turned her eyes towards the Academy, and wasting no time began to fly off.

“We have to go after her! Something isn’t right!” Ruby grabbed Blake and Weiss in each arm, activating her semblance and barreling towards the location of their parked ship. May had just finished tossing the last of her things in the back when she gave them all a pleasantly surprised expression.

“Decided to join me after all? Excellect, Mantle is-” Being cut off as Ruby released her semblance, stumbling towards May, she pointed over her shoulder to the slowly shrinking green glow in the distance.

“It’s Penny! Something is wrong, she woke up and didn’t even seem to recognize any of us. She’s taking off towards the vault, we  _ have _ to go after her.” Ruby gripped May’s shoulders tight, doing everything she could to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

“I told you I’m go-” May shook her head, feeling  _ some _ worry for Penny, but knew where she was needed most.

“Don’t you get it!? If Penny opens the vault and takes the relic, there isn’t going to  _ be _ a Mantle, there won’t even be an Atlas. If she takes that relic, this whole city is going to fall back down into the crater, and there won’t be  _ anyone _ left to protect.” While Ruby impressed the direness of their situation into May, Weiss and Blake had already hopped up into the ship. May hesitated for only a moment, before she gave a nod and hopped up into the ship with Ruby.

“I’ll drop you guys off, and then fly down to the crater. We’ll have to evacuate everyone all over again, but it’s…” May trailed off, her mind swarmed with thoughts about how they’d be able to pull off a miracle and save everyone. “One step at a time…”

With a steady breath as the ship lifted off, May did her best to follow after the tiny dot that had become Penny in the distance.

\---

Whistling to himself, Arthur Watts paced back and forth in the chamber room of the Atlas relic. The floor was a smooth carved stone, thin blue lines forming angled patterns in the surface, and the chamber lit by several bright blue fires atop carved pillars. Enormous crystals jutted from the stonework, and Watts’ hums echoed within the chamber. His joyous mood stopped however, as he heard the sounds of a ship approaching.

Rising upwards from an enormous hole that had formed in the base of the City, a ship rose slowly upwards through a length of pipe and up into the relic chamber. Watts raised a curious eyebrow, taking a somewhat defensive stance for whatever company was arriving, but he lowered his guard and simply rolled his eyes as he saw through the glass that Cinder and Neo were the passengers.

“Well well, now isn’t this a surprise.” Watts, ever amused by Cinder’s presence, watched as she hopped out from the ship beside Neo. While Cinder’s focus was on Watts, Neo couldn’t help but glance around and observe the enormous room they were in.

“I’m here to bring you back. If you’d be  _ so kind _ as to come with us, Salem-” Cinder gritted her teeth, doing her best to maintain a degree of politeness with Watts. Since the day she’d met him he’d done nothing but get under his skin, but with orders from Salem to bring him back she was doing her best to remain calm and not slip up any further.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline. You see, I’m about to accomplish our final goal here, and soon we will be on our way. So why don’t you just run on back to Salem like a good little girl, and I’ll be back soon enough.” Waving his hand, signaling for Cinder to leave, her polite expression turned to a snarl as he turned from her to begin humming. In her anger, her maiden powers flared, a steady stream of flame shoot from her eye as she lifted her arm and threw a fireball over his shoulder. His eyes went wide, the tip of his mustache singing slightly, as he turned back in surprise.

“ _ Now _ .” Cinder held another ball of flame in her hand, her maiden powers roaring as she attempted to force Watts to come with her.

“It never ceases to amaze me how utterly incompetant you are.” Shaking his head, pinching out the small embers on his moustache, Watts let out a heavy sigh. “I promise you should Salem realize the full extent of what I’m about to accomplish, she would be more than happy for my delay in returning. Now then, as I said, run along. A more  _ competent _ maiden is about to arrive, so you’re no longer needed.”

“What…” Cinder stared, somewhat surprised by the mention of another maiden. If Watts was waiting outside of  _ this _ particular vault, then…

Rising up from the darkness beneath them, Penny Polendina came slowly into view. Her boosters lifted her up and towards Watts, where she touched down beside him, her eyes glowing red.

“Ahh and there she is. As I said, a more  _ competent _ maiden. So if you’d be so kind-” Watts attempted to brush of Cinder once more, but the room became further illuminated as a massive ball of fire rushed towards Watts. With no hesitation, Penny placed herself between the two, and with a burst of ice the fireball was extinguished. “You know, I told Salem you were such a poor choice to be our maiden. I really tried to convince her, but she never listed. Now however, I think she finally sees my point, and to be honest there’s only one real reason we keep you around.”

“It’s because of my loyalty, and my power…” Cinder took a step towards Watts, but as he spoke a steady burning sensation began to build within her arm.

“It’s because if we simply tossed you aside, if we let you have your way and anything were to happen, it’s simply too inconvenient to worry about having to find the maiden powers all over again. Nothing more.” With a confident smirk as Watts approached Cinder, her attempts to attack him reading as betrayal to the grimm side of her connected to Salem, he watched as she began to struggle to maintain her composure. Withdrawing a small scroll from his pocket, he chuckled to himself as his thumb tapped away at the screen without needing so much as a glance.

“You’re talking to her…” With her eyes wide, Cinder realized that Watts had been explaining the situation to Salem the entire time. She could only imagine how he was attempting to describe her attacks on him, likely filling the tale with excessive lies to make her look worst and worst by the second.

“Yes my dear, and she has a response to your behavior.” Smirking, he lifted the scroll and Cinder began to fall to one knee, and then the other as her arm began to whip around uncontrollably. “Ah yes, she wishes me to remind you of one key detail that you seem to need a constant reminder. That without her, you are  _ nothing _ .” 

Watts leaned down to Cinder, her maiden powers extinguished by the overwhelming pain coursing through her body. She’d fallen limp, screams making their way from her throat, as Watts stood with another chuckle. Turning from Cinder, he snapped his fingers towards Penny, and began to lead her towards the vault.

“Without her…” Gritting her teeth, using all of her rage and pain to suppress as much of the torment as possible, Cinder sneered slightly as she lifted her human arm towards the shoulder of the grimm arm. “Without her, I could be  _ everything _ !”

As that side of her continued to whip around uncontrollably, Cinder’s hand began to glow as she began to scream through the pain coursing through her. The glow became brighter and brighter, and using all the force she could muster, Cinder began to squeeze tighter and tighter around the arm. The flailing grew more fierce, the pain becoming almost unbearable, but through groans and screams of pain, Cinder’s hand burned through the portion of the arm attached to her body.

A final scream of pain as she ripped the arm from the socket and threw it aside, the detached limb fading to a black dust as she quickly placed her still burning hand to the socket. The wound hiss and cauterized, but the pain she felt now was entirely her own, and somehow she felt a wave of relief.

Watts had watched the scene in horror and surprise. He felt his stomach turn at the sight of Cinder tearing offer own arm, but as Cinder seemed to wobble side to side on the ground, clutching the spot where the arm had once been, he couldn’t help but begin laughing.

“Well, I suppose I can only take that as a sign of your resignation. Finding the new maiden may be difficult, but at the very least it’ll be better than dealing with you.” Flicking through some buttons on his scroll, Watts watched as Penny began to hover towards Cinder, blades exiting the space in her back and unfolding in a ring behind her. Expressionless, Penny pointed a hand outwards toward Cinder, and the blades began to fly towards her as she could only laugh through tears flowing from her eye.

However, just as the blades were about to reach Cinder, they froze in the air. Cinder stared down the center of one such blade, her body frozen, before she glanced towards Watts with surprise.

Standing behind Watts, Neo had appeared with her umbrella blade inches from his throat. He’d halted Penny’s attack, sensing that the end of Cinder would be his end as well, and he raised his hands in defeat.

“You know, despite how useless you are, you always had quite the most interesting subordinates. Though I’m surprised to find any of them still loyal to you after all of this.” Feeling the blade press against his throat, a single line of blood flowing down, Watts silenced himself as Cinder stood slowly. She looked, still in shock, to the empty space where the grimm arm had once been, and for the first time in her life she felt  _ free _ .

A rumble from explosions above shook the chamber. In that moment, Watts elbowed Neo and quickly pressed a series of buttons on the scroll before throwing himself over the edge of the room and into the abyss below. Penny’s form immediately withdrew her weapons and dove down after him, the pair vanishing into the darkness below. There was a burst of energy, a hole being blown through the wall, as the two left and flew towards Monstra.

Cinder couldn’t help but laugh, she laughed and laughed, tears still flowing down her cheek as she realized the full extent of what she’d done. In her laughter, she fell to her knees, and Neo approached her with a slow look of concern. As she crouched down, trying to get a sense of the woman she’d followed all this way, she couldn’t help but feel pity for everything Cinder had gone through.

At the moment, the sound of another ship caught their attention. Rising up the same path theirs had, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, all jumped out as May lifted the hatch of their transport. They immediately drew their weapons at the sight of Cinder and Neo, and May only gave them a brief glance before tilting the ship down and flying her way towards Mantle.

“Cinder… I had a feeling we might find you here.” Ruby glared at the woman, her back to their group, as Neo stepped between them with her weapon drawn. Her glare at Ruby was filled with bloodlust.

“Isn’t this just fitting.” An exhausted voice caused them all to lower their guard. Cinder rose, turning slowly to the group, and the horror of what had happened to her arm was visible to all. Ruby hesitated, doing her best not to outright charge Cinder in that moment, and instead she just looked between Neo and Cinder with a look of confusion.

“Where’s Penny!?” Taking a step forward, Ruby did her best to regain some of her confidence.

“Gone. I believe she’s currently taking Watts to our dear queen Salem.” With a horrific smile, Cinder let out another chuckle as she began to take a step towards their group.

“Why didn’t you go with them? Why didn’t they take the relic…” Blake’s eyes narrowed, realizing that if Penny  _ had _ been here with Watts and Cinder, it would’ve been to take the relic and leave. Given however the Atlas was still floating, that they weren’t currently crashing down into the city blow, this meant something had happened that prevented them from achieving their goal.

“We had, let’s just say, a bit of a disagreement.” Cinder glanced towards the hole that Penny had escaped through, and shook her head, before taking a few more steps towards Ruby. She passed by Neo, whose weapon was still trained on the girl, but she lowered it in surprise as Cinder simply walked towards them.

“Stay right there or-” Weiss resumed her focus, her distractions from the brief bout of confusion vanishing as Cinder came closer. With one hand pointing Myrtenaster towards Cinder, the other prepared to activate any glyph the situation called for, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow in unease as Cinder continued to simply walk towards them.

“Or what, you’ll kill me?” Cinder had come within range of their weapons, but her expression and lack of dangerous intent was off putting to the group. “Then do it.”

“Excuse me?” Ruby took a nervous step back, glancing to Blake and Weiss on either side of her for any signs of how they should be handling the situation.

“It’s going to happen soon no matter what decision you make. One doesn’t simply  _ betray  _ Salem and expect to live very long. Besides, I know how much you want to. After all the people I’ve killed, after what I did to Beacon, after what I did to  _ Pyrrha _ .” There was a smirk, a look in Cinder’s eyes as she said the name of the life she’d taken, that set Ruby off. In an instant Crescent Rose was around her throat, and she couldn’t help but smile up at the girl she’d spent so much time loathing.

“Ruby wait…” Extending a hand out, Blake did her best to calm Ruby, the intense expression in the girl’s eyes one of pain, sorrow, and rage.

“She’s right though…” Ruby trailed off, her eyes glossing over as she tried to deal with the emotions flooding her system. Images of that night rushed through her mind, and her finger hesitated over the trigger that would end it all in an instant. “I want to, to avenge all the lives that have been lost by her hand, and to avenge Pyrrha...But I can’t. I won’t.”

Cinder looked to Ruby with a look of surprise, shaking her head softly as Ruby withdrew Crescent Rose and went so far as to fold it away, disarming herself entirely.

“Too many lives have been lost that didn’t need to be because of everything Salem has done to manipulate people. We’ll take her as a prisoner or something, I don’t know, but killing her isn’t an option.” Ruby looked down at Cinder, who was still laughing softly to herself.

“Even after all I’ve done you’re going to spare me? Why?” Cinder was still in shock, shock from turning on Salem, shock from nearly dying moments ago, and shock that her greatest enemy was suddenly showing her mercy.

“Because you’re a victim in all of this as well. You were pulled into Salem’s game just like everybody else. It doesn’t excuse the things you’ve done, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive you, but I know that killing  _ isn’t _ the answer.” Ruby’s eyes moved to Neo, who was still staring at her, but her expression seemed to have shifted somewhat. “I remember you. From the night Beacon fell, you were with Torchwick.”

Neo’s eyes turned cold once more, raising her weapon and she gave a slow tip of the bowler’s hat on her head, the hat that belonged to her former employer who she believed to have died by Ruby’s hand.

“You’re a victim too. Torchwick, he died to grimm during the attack on Beacon, he died to Salem’s forces after you were blown off the ship.” Ruby’s voice fell low, remembering the fact she’d witnessed Torchwick’s death mere inches from herself. It had been so sudden, the grimm swooping in from out of nowhere and devouring him in a single bite. “We’re  _ all _ victims of loss and grief here, and no matter how you look at it, Salem is the one to blame, she’s our true enemy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't exactly sure how to end certain sections of these predictions, particularly this last one involving Cinder. While I'm not sure if all these events will play out exactly like this, I do imagine a scene where Cinder boils over and essentially "Quits" working for Salem by tearing her own arm off, and then simply giving herself up to whomever now she is free. I think Cinder would want to die a free woman instead of remaining subservient as she always has, but I worry that RWB would have too difficult a time suddenly having to drag Cinder / Neo around everywhere, so I have no idea how that would pan out. The primary part of this theory though is I really want to see Cinder pushed over the edge, and I think Watts is the one mostly likely to do it, before she finally breaks and turns on Salem despite knowing the consequences.  
> I also don't remember if Ruby has seen Neo in Atlas yet. When the fight between Neo and RJN / Oscar went down I think RWBY were fighting the Ace Ops, and I totally don't remember if they mentioned Neo to Ruby or not. I feel like they might have, but still I think Ruby would try and mention at some point that she wasn't the one that killed Torchwick in order to try and 'fix' things with Neo, or at the very least offer her some closure so she isn't still on the warpath to murder her.


	4. Chaos

“Qrow, you need to listen to me very carefully…”

From the inside of his cell, Ironwood stared intently at Qrow, who through his own misfortune had fallen through the barrier of his own and landed squarely on his bare moments ago. Call it being lucky or unlucky, Qrow couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander as he pressed his hand firmly to the portion of his jacket that concealed the badge of the force Ace Ops leader Clover. Blinking as he registered Ironwood’s voice, he moved to stand before the general.

“Shortly before Watts was placed back in his cell, we made a move using him to accomplish a goal. I can see now that he was merely using me, but the first place he’ll be heading is the vault room. I’ll spare you the details, but he currently has control of Penny Polendina, the current Winter Maiden, and is going to use that control in order to obtain the relic keeping Atlas afloat. He cannot succeed under  _ any _ circumstances, do you understand?” Staring down Qrow, imparting a combination of wisdom and orders onto the man, he watched as Qrow gave a quick series of nods.

“What else can I do? What else is going on up there?” Qrow had started to move slowly towards the door, but he needed to know what to do next once Watts was handled.

“The science team should be nearly finished with a devastating device we plan to detonate within the creature currently beached on our perimeter. As I understand it, some members of your team are performing a test run while simultaneously searching for Oscar. I believe it to be Yang, Jaune, and Ren currently aboard as we speak. The orders are for the Ace Ops to detonate the device inside the creature regardless of their progress into the matter. This situation is far and above a few lives.” Narrowing his eyes, Ironwood could see Qrow’s concern at the potential loss ahead, but knowing time was on the essence he gave one final nod before sprinting towards the stairs.

“You  _ really _ screwed the pooch on this one didn’t you.” Chuckling to herself, laying back on the seat in her cell, Robin let out a sigh as Ironwood turned to face her without speaking. “All this talk of paranoia and trust, talking about everything that’s ever betrayed you, and yet when push comes to shove you decide to trust as man like Arthur Watts and somehow expect everything to work out just fine?”

“I was given no other choice…” Ironwood took a heavy breath, knowing that there was some truth to Robyn's words.

“You  _ always _ have a choice.” Standing, Robyn slammed her first against the barrier adjacent to her, the cell that once held Qrow. “We  _ always _ have a choice in who we trust, and trust is the only way we’re ever going to make it through this. Somewhere along the line you decided to make this all about you and-”

“IT WAS NEVER ABOUT ME.” Ironwood slammed his fist onto the wall between himself and Jacques, causing the man to yelp and cower as far back as he could in his cell. “It was never about me… I’ve only ever had the best interests of Remnant at heart. I never cared about the council, I never cared about the academies, I only ever cared about Remnant. I make the hard decisions because I more than anyone can appreciate what is as stake. There is  _ beauty _ in this world, beauty that Salem will wipe off the face of the planet. I will sacrifice hundreds,  _ thousands _ , I will even put my own life on the line because I know that when all is said and done the only thing that matters is that we defeat her. With Salem gone, the survivors, however many are left, will be left in a world without darkness. A world where only beauty remains…”

Ironwood began to trail off, his rage subsiding quickly as his shoulders fell, and he slumped in the seat in his new cell.

“Then that’s all the more reason you can’t give up now…”

\---

Qrow’s steps were heavy, his body shaking side to side as rumbles through the compound made it difficult to keep his footing. His semblance wasn’t helping things, as floor would crack beneath him, lights would flicker into darkness as he ran past, but in his hand he clutched a charm he’d hoped would get him through it all.

Before he knew it he was stumbling down the steps of the vault room, having retrieved his weapon from the storage room just outside the cells, and was shocked by what he saw.

Having expected to see Watts and Penny, instead Qrow found himself staring down at Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Cinder, and Neo, all standing well within reach of one another yet nobody seemed to be making a move. Gripping the weapon at his back, drawing it for whatever surprises may come, his steps alerted the group who turned and looked to him with equal surprise.

“Qrow!? I thought you were locked up!” Ruby’s face lit up, her uniform was speckled with green, and even with her smile there was something dark within her expression that Qrow had never seen in her before.

“Did Ironwood finally come to his senses? Is he on our side again?” Weiss frowned, doing her best to face Qrow while still keeping Cinder and Neo within her line of sight.

“Not quite, it’s a long story but he might be out of commission for a while. What’s going on here? Where are Watts and Penny?” Qrow’s eyes had immediately locked back onto Cinder, whose face showed numerous emotions he couldn’t even begin to pick apart. Neo, however, looked more concerned than anything, with her eyes on Ruby and the grip of here parasol tight.

“They left. Cinder says they’re heading back to Salem aboard the giant whale outside.” Gesturing down to the hole below, Blake pointed towards the exit Penny had made before flying off.

“That’s not good, that whale might not be there much longer, and neither might anyone on it…” Glancing down into the hole, Qrow looked towards the ship that Cinder and Neo had flown in on, still hovering gently beside the walkway. “We need to stop them before they get there, and try and get a message to Yang and the others.”

“Yang? Have you heard from her!?” Blake perked up, her eyes moving immediately to Qrow.

“No, even if I had my scroll long range communications are shot, but I know where she is.” Qrow looked to the hopeful Blake, and he couldn’t help but frown. “You’re not gonna like it.”

\---

“You know, if I hadn’t walked in here on my own two feet, I’d never believe we’re inside a giant whale grimm.” Yang’s eyes were wide, on full alert as they eased up floor after floor of steps within Monstra. Moving slow, to keep the burden of Ren’s semblance minimal, they’d passed dozens of grimm on their journey to find Oscar, but had never seen any signs of where he might be. She couldn’t help but try and lighten the mood, whispering to the two close by her, as they seemed to reach the top floor.

“I know what you mean…” The pair slowly stepped out into a small chamber with several more halls that branched off in multiple directions. The halls and flooring here seemed rather ornate compared to the lower emptier levels, there were far less scratches and drag marks across the floor suggesting there were fewer grimm within the area. “Now where do we go.” 

Standing in the center of the room, the group looked between seemingly identical hallways, unsure of where to go next.

“How about…” Yang raised her hand, and began to rotate herself in preparation to pick a random passage, when steps could be heard echoing through the chamber.

“Hide!” Hearing the sound, Ren quickly grabbed Jaune and Yang by the shoulder and pulled them back into the stairwell they’d just left from. The steps became closer, more than one set moving towards them, and their collective eyes went wide as a slow moving Emerald holding the lamp and a massive Hazel moved into the chamber they’d been in. Just behind them, beaten and bruised, was Oscar.

“OSCAR!” His emotions overtaking him in that moment, Jaune’s eyes moved from Oscar to Hazel, and he rushed the behemoth with his weapon drawn.

“JAUNE NO.” Ren was too late to stop the charge, he and Yang having to follow behind Jaune, as Hazel and Emerald looked their way.

“Who…” Blinking at the sudden ambush, Hazel lifted his enormous forearm to take the swing of Jaune’s sword, and without even activating his aura the blade barely managed to cut into his flesh as he simply frowned down at the boy. “Ah, right.”

“Jaune hold on.” Extending his hands outwards, doing his best to keep the peace as everyone in the room drew their weapons, Oscar looked between both pairs as he placed himself between everyone.

Jaune pulled his weapon back, raising his shield as he expected some form of retaliation, but he watched as Hazel’s aura glowed across his body and the wound healed in an instant.

“What’s going on here!?” Yang had assumed a combat stance, her attention and footing constantly changing as she kept her eyes firmly on the two targets, doing her best to focus her senses in case Emerald’s semblance targeted her.

“I don’t have time to explain, but Emerald and Hazel know Salem’s true goal and they’re helping me escape with the lamp.” Gesturing back toward Emerald, who held the lamp in one hand and one of her guns in the other, Oscar turned back to Yang and co. and motioned for them to put their weapons down.

“How do we know this isn’t a trick? That Emerald isn’t using her semblance to try and lure us into a false sense of security or something!?” Jaune still wasn’t convinced, his weapons raised in preparation to fight, though Hazel simply lowered his arms and shrugged.

“Because Emerald doesn’t know you falsified your entry documents into Beacon, and were accepted all the same.” Eyes glowing, Ozpin through Oscar gave a knowing smirk to Jaune.

“She… she could’ve looked that up somewhere!”

“How about how much you questioned me about the definition of a ‘landing strategy’ before I flung you into a forest of bloodthirsty creatures to fend for yourself?” Raising a confident brow, Ozpin watched as Jaune’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he slowly lowered his weapons.

“Alright, I guess you’ve got me there…” As Ozpin let out a minor chuckle, his eyes flickered as Oscar resumed control.

“I believe they're telling the truth, but I still think some explanations are in order.” Ren had lowered his weapons, but he didn’t look pleased about their current situation. His eyes stared at the trio, seeing petals of mixed and chaotic emotions swirling around both Emerald and Hazel. Best he could tell they were being honest, that they truly were helping Oscar escape, but he still couldn't make sense of why. “Why now? Why change sides after everything you’ve done?”

“Later.” Hazel spoke firmly and shook his head. “We’re on a time limit. Salem won’t be pleased when she discovers the lamp is missing, and if we haven’t left by then, well…”

“Oh!” Jaune’s eyes went wide at the mention of a time limit. “Speaking of-”

_ “Mr. Arc. You have failed to check in and this is merely a kindness to inform you that your time is up. Harriet will be delivering the bomb following the path your took and stopping short of your last location in the even-” _

“Winter!” Jaune cut off the sudden broadcast coming through the earpiece each of them had been granted.

_ “Ah, I see you’re alive. I must recommend that you evacuate quickly then. Did you succeed in your objective?” _

“I think so. We’re about to leave with Oscar and…” Hesitating slightly, Jaune shook his head and continued speaking. “And we’ll be out as soon as possible!”

_ “I hope you make it out safely.” _

There was a brief period of static and silence as the broadcast was ceased.

“Speaking of time limits, any second now a bomb is going to get dropped off  _ pretty _ close to here, so uhh…” Awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, Jaune looked to the other trio before them, and Hazel merely nodded.

“We were leaving anyway.” Taking the lead, but at a faster pace this time, the group began to travel through Monstra towards the docks as quickly as they could when a howl echoed through the entirety of the beast.

“Move. NOW.” Speaking with sudden urgency, Oscar rushed the group as quickly as they could, both Emerald and Ren dropping their semblances as the group hurried as quickly as they could towards the docks. There was a loud thudding sound echoing all around them growing steadily closer as the ship came into sight.

“Go. Get the ship ready.” Sliding to a stop, Jaune turned with his shield raised and sword at the ready. Yang and Ren slowed beside him, turning in preparation to fight. “Round Two.”

The Hound came into view, the momentum it carried the enormous figure slamming it into a wall at the end of the hall they’d exited onto the landing platforms. It’s nose twitched, sniffing the air as it followed the scent of the lamp and those who had betrayed its master. Seeing Jaune and his friends waiting for it, it let out another deafening howl and rushed straight towards them.

Diving into Jaune, the beast found itself surprised when it seemed to phase through his image, before letting out a howl of pain as a sword pierced its side. In the distance, from her position in the ship whirring to life, Emerald was staring towards the beast. Again it turned, attempting to slash at an opponent, only to fail instantly. It’s body began to morph, shifting beneath the surface, as it enhanced its senses to see through the illusion. Developing heat sensors, improving its hearing and sight, the creature could detect any real signs of movement around it, and quickly began to fight the trio with intense ferocity.

Suddenly there was a clinking of crystals, and the trio fled towards the ship as Yang shot a timed charge towards the fire crystals that had been flung at the Hound by Hazel from the ship. Moments later the crystals detonated, the beast reeling but not defeated. It’s body began to morph, regenerating as Yang Jaune and Ren hopped onto the ship and lifted off. Black wings began to sprout from the hound in preparation to chase them.

“What was that?” Despite the horrific image of the beast behind them, as the ship left there was a quick jolt of what appeared to be lightning that dashed into Monstra’s mouth.

“I think that was the bomb…” Yang trailed off, her eyes going wide as moments later the bolt of lightning exited the beast. “Yup, definitely the bomb. Go, GO!” Shouting towards Hazel from her seat, the shit began to blast off as the Hound behind them prepared to leap after them, when an explosion detonated from within the creature. Flames spouted from the mouth, and quickly flooded the docks, washing over the Hound and evaporating it in an instant. The whale let out pained moans as it began to burn from the inside out, and the ship flew off towards Atlas.

\---

Qrow had stayed behind, taking it upon himself to look after Cinder. Neo, to everyone’s surprise, had offered to fly them down towards Monstra but only on the promise that once she dropped them off, she would be leaving. Her goal in all of this had been revenge for Torchwick, but now knowing the truth realized it may be something she can never obtain if Salem is her enemy. Instead, being in  _ way _ over her head and having a distaste towards Cinder, Neo figured she’d simply go elsewhere and hope this whole thing blew over.

However, as the ship lowered itself down out of the base of the relic room and towards Monstra, there was a sudden flash of light and a wave of energy that shot from the beast as gouts of flame poured out. Neo quickly righted the ship and set down at the closest piece of land, realizing that their destination had quite literally gone up in flame.

“YANG.” The scream was bloodcurdling, the pain in Blake’s voice overwhelming as she threw herself from the ship as soon as it landed. She fell down towards the ground, her eyes filling with immediate tears as she began to crawl towards Monstra. They were impossibly far away, but all she could think of doing was getting to the beast and trying to find Yang.

“Penny…” Her own body seemed to shut down, Ruby falling to her knees beside Blake, who had curled into a ball and could only continue to scream.

As far as they were aware, their friends had been on the creature when the bomb had gone off, and had likely perished in the explosion…


	5. To Be A Schnee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thinking more thoroughly about the fact the Hound was being sent after Penny, and would therefore likely arrive in the Schnee Manor, I was inspired by suddenly imagining what type of woman Willow might've been in her past. I figure some family bonding against a common foe would make for an awesome scene to bring them closer together and grow. Not to mention the centerpiece of the Schnee Estate (check around the 3:55 mark of V7E8) is just begging to fall and kill something, and what better than the Hound?

Whitley ran through the manor, the lights now illuminating the manor proper after being turned on, but that victory they’d achieved had been short. Once the generator had powered on there was a horrific crunch on the ceiling of the building, several slow and heavy steps making their way across the roof. While Ruby, Weiss, and Blake had fought a handful of grimm on their way there, something about these sounds had made the huntresses incredibly uneasy.

“We need to get back  _ now _ . Whitley, go get mother and have her meet up with us and Klein.  _ GO _ .” Weiss had urged him to run, to find their mother while they fought whatever it was that had appeared. In a panic, worried deeply about the fact that even these trained huntresses seemed on edge with whatever this newest enemy was, Whitley had filled himself with fear as he sprinted through the manor.

Corner after corner, for the first time in his life he lamented how enormous their home was. It had always felt like something to brag about, something to take pride in and feel superior about, but being alone in these halls and desperately needing to get across the entire structure was filling him with more and more dread. He could hear a thumping, something large was following him,  _ chasing him _ . Had Weiss and her friends failed!? Did the creature simply run away!? Why him!

His thoughts continued to compound the inner terror flowing within him, the sound of booming steps growing closer and closer, and as he took a turner too tightly he slipped, a carpet pulling from beneath him and causing him to topple forward onto the ground. Rolling over in a panic, he could see the enormous creature that had been making the thudding sounds come to a stop at the opposite end of the lengthy hallway. The beast lay its eyes on him, sniffing the air, and slowly prowling in his direction. Whitley panicked, he began to squirm and try and crawl back, but the beast only picked up its pace as it tasted more and more of his fear.

“Weiss!? Ruby, Blake!? Anyone!?” The desperate pleas of Whitley, reaching even to the faunus companion of his sister, were met with silence. The rest of the group had likely gone towards the meetup location and had hoped they’d be able to keep the beast following them. They hadn’t realized the fear coursing in Whitley’s veins would result in him being a target.

With nobody coming to his aid, the creature bounding towards him at full sprint, Whitley could only curl up and scream as the Hound kicked off the ground and propelled itself to pounce onto him.

A second ticked by. Then another. Whitley had expected to have felt the impact of the enormous claws by now, and he dared open a single eye to try and see what had happened.

The hound was frozen in the air, several black glyphs having formed around its body that kept it stuck. The glyphs had a gentle spin, and despite the struggles of the Hound it was unable to move.

“Weiss?” Sounding hopeful, and with a shocked smile, Whitley let out a hysteric laugh as he spun around to try and find his sister. Instead, much to his surprise, he found that his mother was standing in the hall behind him with he hand outstretched.

“Stay away from my son.” There was a look in Willow’s eyes. A look Whitley had never ever seen her give to his father, a look that shook him to his core. For a brief moment, he felt pity for the creature receiving its gaze. “Whitley, run along. Mother will handle this.”

With a twist of her wrist and a bend of her fingers, the glyphs of the creature spun rapidly, expanding and changing from black to white, and with a final flick of her wrist all the forward momentum that the Hound had been surging forward with instead repelled it backwards with quintuple the force. A black blur rocketed backwards through the hallway, crashing through a far wall and kicking up dust and rubble. Whitley was shocked, he’d never seen his mother fight before, but knowing he would only be in the way scrambled to his feet and ran to try and find the others.

“Now then…” Willow let out a heavy sigh. In her other hand had been a rather expensive bottle of wine that she’d been saving for the most dire of nights. Atlas under siege had seemed a good a time as any, but as adrenaline began to course through her veins she tossed the bottle aside, sobering up quickly. Turning her head, she reached up towards a set of swords placed on a wooden display hanging from the wall. Like most of the items within the Schnee manor, they were mainly for display, but knowing it was better than nothing she tested the balance and gave the swords a brief swing.

Muscle memory coursed through her body, Willow cracked her neck as she loosened herself up and turned her gaze towards the end of the hall. The Hound had righted itself and crawled from the debris, its body morphing and shifting to a more muscular and powerful build. It was an interesting ability Willow had never seen a grimm use before, but at the end of the day, a grimm was a grimm. As the beast began to bound towards her once more, Willow placed the end of one of the blades in the wall to her left and took a slow and steady breath. An enormous white glyph formed into being against the wall, and as the Hound kicked off from the ground to charge her, the glowing white head of a king taijitu burst out from the glyph, taking the Hound in its mouth and smashing it through the wall to her side.

\---

The rumble of the second collapsed wall sent a tremor through the entire manor. Ruby, Weiss and Blake had all made it back to Klein when they heard the quakes, and each of them looked particularly concerned.

“I need to go find Whitley and mother, the grimm could’ve decided to go after them instead. You two stay here and-” As Weiss quickly made her way to the hallway, she almost slammed into a heavily panting Whitley. “Whitley? Where-”

“Grimm! She’s… fighting…” Wheezing, Whitley weakly pointed down the hallway and quickly did his best to regain his composure. Gesturing for Weiss to follow, he quickly led her in the direction he’d last seen their mother. Weiss looked back to the group who were standing near the windows to keep an eye out for more grimm, and they each exchanged nods as Weiss followed after her younger brother.

\---

The king taijitu had blow the Hound into the enormous front hall of the Schnee Manor. Stepping through the hole it had created, Willow looked down into the chamber where the taijitu and the Hound fought one another, the two headed beast wrapped in circles around the Hound as it scratched, bit, and crushed it in return. She could tell immediately that her summoned creature wouldn’t stand a chance, and reaching into her pockets she glanced over the dust vials she’d retrieved for the fight. From her room she’d been able to monitor the security cameras placed all around the home, and had seen the beast prowling the estate. Despite her confidence in her daughter and her friends, Willow had decided to collect a few dust vials in the event something were to find her.

As the Hound ripped apart her summon, she swung outwards one of the blades as several white glyphs appeared, and popping over a vial of fire dust she let turn of her hand fill the glyphs with small bolts of fire, propelled immediately down towards the grimm just as her taijitu faded. To her surprise however, the beast avoided the attack with surprising agility for its new size. Quickly uncorking a vial of ice dust, she attempted the maneuver once more but with higher speed and precision, which only seemed to annoy the Hound as it vaulted up to the second level where she stood, entirely unphased by the attack. Backing herself up, Willow hit a wall and tried to edge herself towards the hole that had been made with her weapons raised defensively, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye that drew a smirk across her face.

With the Hound focused on her, an enormous glowing claymore blade pierced through the center of the creature's body. Weiss’s Arma Gigas was standing along the stairs, blade outstretched, and it flung the Hound from beside Willow and back down into the center part of the chamber.

“Mom!” Rushing to her mother’s side, Weiss was instead met with a shake of her head and an outstretched hand.

“Later, dear.” Willow’s eyes had only moved to Weiss for an instant, before she took several steps forward and glanced down at the rapidly regenerating Hound.

“Right.” Nodding her head, Weiss turned and with Myrtenaster outstretched the Arma Gigas charged down the steps towards the reeling Hound to continue the fight.

As the Hound found itself rather occupied with the enormous armored entity battling it, the continued ranged assault from Willow began to cause it a great deal of damage. Dodging a sword only to be hit by gouts of flame, or avoiding ice shards only to be pierced or cut, the Hound let out a howl of pain and rage as its body continued to regenerate faster than they could do damage.

“What do we do? None of our attacks seem to be working…” Weiss stood beside her mother, the pair assaulting the Hound from a safe distance, but Willow had begun to grip the railing for support.

“I’m not sure dear, but we need to do something quickly. I’m not as young as I once was, so combat for this length is starting to take its toll…” Willow sighed heavily, the rate of her dust attacks slowing considerably, and without the extra attacks the Hound was gaining the advantage against the Arma Gigas.

The beast had continued to morph during the fight, to the point where it had assumed a bipedal stance. It was like nothing either of the Schnee’s had seen before, and as the Arma Gigas swung the enormous claymore downwards towards it, they were shocked to see the Hound catch the blade as it fell. With another loud roar and a twist of its body, the Hound shattered the blade in an instant, and the rest of the summon began to fade into a white mist.

“That’s not good…” The Hound set its sights on the pair once more, but with a vial of gravity dust in hand Willow summoned a sizable black glyph over the beast, pressing its form to the ground and freezing it in place at the center of the room. Weiss matched her mother’s actions, the Hound showing considerable resistance to the crushing weight of a single glyph, but coming to a sudden halt at the pressure of a second overlaying the first. The ground beneath the creature cracked, and despite its sudden inability to move, there were no signs the pressure was going to slay the creature.

“Well now what.” Frowning to herself, realizing that at this point they were just buying time, Weiss wondered if Ruby and Blake would eventually come to check on the pair.

“I’m not sure sweety, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold for very much longer. If and when my glyph fades, I need you to run and find your friends.” Willow gave a soft smile to Weiss, whose eyes went wide. “I’m certain you’ll all be able to handle it, and the least I can do is buy you a little time.”

“Mother, no…” Weiss could hear the sorrow in her mother’s voice, and her own threatened to break as she realized that Willow was offering up her life as a sacrifice to buy her daughter a few moments.

“Weiss it-” Before Willow could continue talking though, there was a sudden creaking sound and the lights began to flicker slightly. Looking around at their surroundings, the pair found their gazes falling on the enormous chandelier that hung center in their grand hall. The enormous piece, composed of heavy metal, with hard light dust acting to form ice-cicle like decor at numerous places to also provide some illumination, had begun to let out an audible creak. Primary held up by levels of active gravity dust through it that stemmed from a central point in the ceiling, the faint purple glow flowing through the metal began to dim, before the entire piece seemed to suddenly let go from the ceiling.

Finely tipped shards of hard-light dust fell with the enormous weight of the metal bars that formed the chandelier, and the instant these pieces came in contact with the glyphs pressing the Hound into the floor their momentum increased drastically. The shards of hard light skewered the creature, the metal frame of the chandelier crushing the creature as audible crunching filled the entire hall. A wave of dust kicked up as the floor cracked further than it had, the once pristine marble ground now crumbled and in pieces. From their position, they could see a faint black dust drifting upwards from the point the chandelier had hit, and immediately the two let up on their glyphs with a shared sigh of relief.

“What happened?” Weiss’s eyes glanced upwards to the point of the ceiling where the gravity dust that kept the chandelier upright was pumped in. The fixture had been designed to be self-sustaining, that the amount of dust used was kept at a minimum and flowed with a consistent rate in order to prevent what had just happened from happening. The only way the piece could ever fall was if someone had manually…

Coming around the corner, a still out of breath Whitley glanced down into the chamber where the Hound’s body had been decimated by the falling centerpiece. He smiled a bit to himself, looking between his safe and sound family members.

“Whitley? Did you…” Gesturing back at the falling chandelier, Weiss was shocked that her brother had managed such a feat. “How did you even-”

“I never left…Once I saw you and mother fighting that thing I knew I couldn’t just  _ leave _ . I stayed far enough back not to get in the way, but when I saw it pinned down I knew that there was something I could do. I’m only glad it worked.” With an awkward smile, a small hint of pride and a copious amount of adrenaline in his body, Whitley found himself surprised in how much he’d enjoyed being able to help his family do battle with a grimm. In no time at all he found himself suddenly embraced by his older sister, his mother walking close and giving a soft hug to the pair.

“And Mom, I had no idea…” Still shocked by her mother’s combat abilities, Weiss watched as her mother gave a soft chuckle.

“Don’t forget dear, I  _ am _ a Schnee.” With a soft smile, followed by a small frown, Willow looked at the ruined main chamber of the once regal Schnee Manor. “Your father isn’t going to be happy about this.”

“Yes, but when is father  _ ever _ happy.” Willow turned with surprise to Whitley, who pursed his lips at his rather sudden jab at his father. For Weiss however, she suddenly felt a surge of pride.

"Thank you both, for everything you've done." Willow put a gentle hand on each of her children, looking between each with a soft smile. "I know I haven't been the greatest mother, but despite that I couldn't be more proud of how the two of you have grown."

Leaning forward, Willow placed a gentle kiss on the foreheads of Whitley and Weiss.


End file.
